Days before talks with Western powers over its disputed nuclear program, Iran reports that it has discovered new deposits of raw uranium and identified sites suitable for 16 more nuclear power stations.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Egypt took a turn for the diplomatically dicey in Cairo on Tuesday when an angry man who apparently hailed from Syria chose to express his displeasure with Ahmadinejad’s support of the Syrian regime by lobbing a shoe at the Iranian leader.

It all depends, I think, on whether criminals are our friends (Stalin at the time) or our enemies (Hitler and his fellow Nazis), whether they have their future uses (the Japanese emperor) or whether we’ll get their wealth more easily if they are out of the way (Saddam and Gadhafi).

Ever at the ready with a grandiose metaphor, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the latest efforts of protesters in his country clamoring for regime change, claiming Tuesday that they were “going nowhere” and out to “tarnish the Iranian nation’s brilliance.”

The WikiLeaks diplomatic drama has caused the collective twisting of multiple pairs of knickers in the highly interconnected international diplomacy and espionage circles, and of course, whatever vexes those in power is prime comedy material for the minds that bring you “The Daily Show.”

On Monday, after two Iranian nuclear scientists were targeted in apparently coordinated bombings, killing one scientist and wounding another, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pointed to the West and to Israel to place blame for the attacks.

A serious rift has divided the Iranian government in a manner that could be tricky to resolve, as it puts the country’s parliament on one side and its president on the other. On Monday, the news broke that Iran’s parliament had been working on a plan to eject ... (continued)

Here’s President Barack Obama’s take on the stringent new sanctions the U.N. Security Council voted Wednesday to impose on Iran: They’re “the toughest sanctions ever faced by Iran.” Right, now here’s Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the same topic ... (continued)

Iran’s launching of a new rocket Wednesday raised concerns in the U.S. that Tehran might have plans in the works beyond a patriotic show of space prowess (read: nuclear ambitions). Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is claiming that he’s open to talks about enriching Iranian uranium outside his country.

We like to believe—and newspapers and television like us to believe—that the battle for Iran is being fought on the streets of Tehran, of Isfahan, of Najafabad. Untrue. The future of the nation is being decided in Qom, among the clerical leaders of Iranian Shia Islam; and one of the most influential of them—perhaps the closest of all the ayatollahs to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—is silent.

Six people are on trial in Iran for allegedly stirring up trouble and “undermining the Islamic government system” after the country’s controversial presidential elections in June. Some critics are calling the legal actions “show trials,” according to the BBC.

Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported Monday that local authorities have admitted that a 25-year-old detainee who was arrested in the wave of protests following June’s presidential election in Iran died from abuse at the hands of prison officials, according to The New York Times.

Amid street battles, the deaths of 30 protesters and weeks-long accusations of electoral corruption, everyone’s favorite Twitter-bobo doll, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has taken the oath of office for Iran’s presidency once again. Several countries, the U.S. being one of them, have said they will not send a letter of congratulations. So there.

Members of the Iranian public aren’t the only ones registering their displeasure about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s impending second term. On Monday, as Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei formally gave his endorsement to Ahmadinejad, some key members of Iran’s political elite were conspicuously absent from the ceremony.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad demands a public apology from President Obama for “interfering” in Iran’s affairs, while the crackdown widens in the Islamic Republic. Here’s a report from Bloomberg on the latest happenings in Iran.

Writer and religious scholar Reza Aslan joins Jon Stewart to discuss what he sees as a major shift in Iran: What once was a battle over fraudulent election results has become a revolution over the future of the Islamic Republic. Check out the interview on Wednesday night’s “Daily Show.”

Tens of thousands of Iranians gathered around Mir Hossein Mousavi on Thursday to mourn those killed during the election protests. At least eight people have died. On Friday, the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will lead prayers at the University of Tehran, the scene of a bloody crackdown a few days ago, and is expected to address how the government plans to resolve the crisis.

Iranian militiamen opened fire at protesters in Tehran on Monday, allegedly killing one and wounding others. Hundreds of students have been arrested as tens of thousands of people rallied for opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. The supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has finally called for a review of Friday’s election results at the heart of the unrest.

Millions of Iranians headed to the polls Friday in what appeared to be record numbers for a presidential election. Voters will decide between incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and three opposition candidates, the most popular of which, the reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi, has gained lots of attention from young people and women.

Clearly, several dozen delegates at the United Nations anti-racism conference in Geneva, Switzerland, disagreed with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s assessment of Israel as a “racist government” on Monday.

A special delegation from Hollywood visited Iran this weekend. Said delegation was there to take part in a “cultural exchange,” according to The Wrap, but Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wasn’t rolling out the red carpet.

On Tuesday, the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in his country, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad extended a tentative offer to open a dialogue between the U.S. and Iran—provided that the Obama administration makes good on its “change” slogan.

Britain’s Channel 4 has a tradition of featuring an alternative Christmas message as a kind of counterpoint to Queen Elizabeth’s customary speech, and this year’s speaker—Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—is sparking outrage.

Those fickle heads of state are at it again: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who so recently sent a note of goodwill (or so it seemed) to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, has apparently already changed his tune.

Evidence of Iran’s influence over the global economy appeared Wednesday as the oil-rich nation agreed to release 15 British captives and petroleum prices consequently fell. If a relatively minor diplomatic dispute can perturb investors, imagine how invading or bombing Iran would affect global markets.

Vice President Cheney, speaking in Australia, indicated yet again that the use of force would be likely if Iran continued its uranium enrichment program. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday, “The Iranian people are vigilant and will defend all their rights to the end.” According to Cheney, “all options are on the table.” However, for the Bush administration, this seems to translate as only one option: military intervention.

The love-fest between Tehran and Caracas deepened this week, with an official visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the Venezuelan capital. Hugo Chavez and the Iranian leader embraced, signed 29 agreements and decried American-style world hegemony.